It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in fora long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airlinerepresentative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check herluggage without paying a 100 dollars surcharge:

When it was finally Mary's turn, she got the message that would crushher bubbling feeling of happiness.

-You'll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring boththose suitcases to Norway , the man behind the counter said.

Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway,and she had no one else to call.

-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things Icould manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection ofmy most prized possessions, says Mary.

As tears streamed down her face, she heard a "gentle and friendly voice"behind her saying, "That's okay, I'll pay for her." Mary turned aroundto see a tall man whom she had never seen before.

-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. Thefirst thing I thought was, Who is this man?

Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authoritythat radiated from the man.

She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway andassured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote hisname and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thankedhim repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the securitycheckpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

Who was the man?Barack Obama !!

Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at theairport may be the next President and has voted for him already anddonated 100 dollars to his campaign:

-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.

She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived inNorway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paidcommunity worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies atprestigious Harvard university. Mary even convinced her parents to votefor him:

In the spring of 2006 Mary's parents had heard that Obama wasconsidering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. Theychose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receivetheir votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping theirdaughter 18 years earlier.

'I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me andfor reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I'm happy I couldhelp back then, and I'm delighted to hear that your daughter is happy inNorway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama , United States Senator'.

The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

Mary says that when her friends and associates talk about the election,especially when race relations is the heated subject, she relates thestory of the kind man who helped out a stranger-in-need over twentyyears ago, years before he had even thought about running for highoffice.

Truly a wonderful story, and something that needs to be passed along inthe maelstorm of fear-and-smear politics we are being subjected to rightnow.

UPDATE:Thanks for the recommends, folks! Also, remember this was 1988, when100 dollars was quite a bit of money, compared to today's value.

amazing huh??? i wish all of our politicians will do the same...some might have done it quitely and some will do it and let the whole world know about it by publishing it on papers.....:D

waliz...what a lovely story but I am not surprised at all...he is a good and kind man and I can see him helping a stranger...yup, he is the man...he got my vote and I have faith in him...please let him end these wars.

hi maunie..i'm so glad to see u again...and u vote for him too??? i really pity the reluctant soldiers who leave their family in the name of war...hope they can go back soon and be able to mingle wth their beloved one...

Nice story. It reminds me 4 years ago when I and my 1 year-old daughter missed our plane to KK because I had to pay the surcharge for extra baggage. The surcharge counter was quite far from the checkin-in counter and there are few people quing up to make payments as well. I knew that I was late and since the gate are quite far, I carried my daughter and run. We reached the gate 2 minutes after it has been closed but we were not allowed to board the plane. We took the next plane and reached KK 2 hour after our baggage. No Obama though, to save us. :)

ismail...i feel bad when i hear your story...the officer incharged must be very strict or maybe just doing his job...i hope it will never happen again...and pity your daughter had to go through all the hassle...yes no obama to help..just too bad...sigh.

Got nothing agaist the officer. Like u said, he merely doing his job. I just can't understand, why I can't pay the surcharge at the checkin counter? We would hv not missed the plane had they do that, we might not even need to run at all. Well that's are just the past. I hold no grudge against anybone. It makes good bed time story for my children & children's children. Cheers!